


New Beginings

by MzFrosty



Category: The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-23
Updated: 2019-04-11
Packaged: 2019-11-04 10:25:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 11,391
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17896688
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MzFrosty/pseuds/MzFrosty
Summary: "Please tell me you are here because you miss my awesome self?"Mystic falls was the capital town of all things weird, and they made the grave mistake of thinking weird was behind them because they left.





	1. Chapter 1

**New Beginnings**

* * *

 

Damon groaned and tried to burrow further into the pillow. He drew the covers over his head until only the crown of his raven hair showed.

"Master Damon, you have to get him up. He's going to be late"

The incessant pulling was back and Damon groaned again. "Give him a few more minutes Martha. Wake him after you're done with breakfast, and..."

"I **_am_** done with breakfast, and if he doesn't get up soon, he won't be able to eat. I even had time to iron his clothes and arrange his backpack. Does that tell you anything, young master?" When all she got were soft snores, she pulled the blankets off him with a huff. "I don't get paid enough for this job" she stated amidst Damon's sharp yelp

"I don't pay you Martha" Damon grunted when he felt his body lift itself into a sitting position on the bed without his consent. "And I don't like it when you use magic on me"

"I wouldn't have to if you listened. Now go make sure your brother is ready for school. If he can be done in less than fifteen minutes, he'll have time for breakfast"

Damon trudged to Stefan's room and shook him awake. "Come on Stef, you're gonna be late. Up and at 'em"

"I don't feel good Damon. Something's wrong"

"Yea right. Of course, you're sick. What was that the doctor said again? Some type of vampire flu? Here, let me take your temperature. Oh my! You're burning up. Somebody, dial 911"

Stefan slapped his hands away from his face. "I'm serious Damon. Something doesn't feel right"

"Get over yourself Stefan. You're going to school. Now come on, I gotta drop you off and catch up on some sleep"

Stefan scoffed. "You're never going back to sleep" he said as he headed to the bathroom.

"Probably right. But I still got stuff to do so... Try and be fast, will ya" Damon shouted after him

After a lot of grumbles, and classic Stefan broodiness, Damon had him tucked away at the High School it still took him at least twenty minutes to get to no matter how many speed limits he broke. Then he drove back home, eager to finish that new game he had been playing the day before. 

* * *

 

"Niklaus, if you can't be still maybe you should go to your room, and do something productive instead of distracting me"

"I'm not some naughty child you can send to his room Elijah. Besides, what you're doing is rather boring"

"What I'm doing is trying to find a good school for Kol. If you're bored, go draw something, or maybe you can take Kol out, have some fun. Either way, stop whining"

"Look around Elijah. We live in Montana. We are surrounded by good schools. All you need to do..." he gave an exaggerated sigh as he moved off the couch to Elijah's side "is choose one” he added as he clicked on one of the private schools his older brother had been researching on his laptop. “There, I just found a school for our baby brother. You're welcome. Now, if you don't mind handing me your credit card, I can finally relieve my boredom and go shopping for school supplies for Kol" Klaus ended, swiping Elijah's card off the table and walking out the door, the prospect of doing something remotely fun boosting his steps. 

* * *

 

"I thought you didn't like Stefan's video games"

"This one's not so bad. I actually like it a bit" Damon said, taking another swig of bourbon

"Really? I hadn't noticed" Martha answered snidely. "And that is not a substitute for breakfast. There's some leftover pizza in the fridge. I'll heat that up for you while I go about making an actual meal"

"Leftover pizza? Who ordered?"

"That spoilt brat who always makes googly eyes at Stefan was here yesterday. Some lame excuse about homework or so. She has no creativity, that one"

Damon chuckled. "Every child and teenager in the neighborhood is a spoilt brat Martha, including Stefan. We live in Beverly Hills. You'll have to be more specific"

"You know exactly who I'm talking about, young master" Martha sneered while bustling around in the kitchen. "I don't like her. She's too bouncy… and loud."

“Bouncy? You should meet Caroline” Damon said, reaching for the bourbon again, only to have Martha magically move it to the sink. He groaned loudly. “Martha” he whined. “You know the alcohol won't hurt me. I don’t stand a risk of some liver or kidney disease from too much alcohol. Why won't you just…” he trailed off as he saw the look on her face. “Fine. Pizza it is” he grumbled

Martha smiled patronizingly. “I knew you would see reason” she said to Damon, before placing two slices of pizza before him, staring at him pointedly until he dropped the console and took a slice, albeit an exaggerated one. It was Martha’s turn to roll her eyes this time, amused by the antics of her charge. Only Damon Salvatore could turn something as simple as eating pizza into a battle of wills. Seriously, he was so childish sometimes, Martha thought, as she waited patiently for him to pout his way through the pizza. She was glad though that he had backed down so quickly. Damon may have inherited his mother’s blue eyes and dark hair but his stubbornness and rather impressive temper he got from his father. And Giuseppe was a _very_ stubborn man. “Drink the juice, young master” she commanded quietly. It was a testament to how far they had come that she could order Damon around like that and not expect to have her heart flung across the room. Martha had come into the Salvatore household as a young woman shortly after Giuseppe Salvatore’s marriage. She had a quiet majesty around her that not even Damon’s father could overlook, and had never been treated as a slave. She had been around for all of Lily Salvatore’s miscarriages, and had rejoiced with the family when Damon had lived. She had both celebrated and mourned with them after Stefan had been born and Lily died. She had been there for all of Damon’s tantrums and illnesses and nightmares. She had been there for all of it. Which was why she had readily cast the spell that would slow down her aging significantly so she could still look after and protect her boys - and somebody up there must have either really liked her or the Salvatore boys because she had practically stopped aging since she cast the spell - and which was also why, she could stay calm under that famous Damon glare when she asked him to drink the juice.

“You must have mistaken me for Stefan, Martha. I’m not some snot nosed teenager who has to drink milk and juice to keep up appearances. I’m legal, Martha. In every way. And as the **_legal_** **_adult_** that I am, I am not drinking orange juice. I am going to pour myself a nice glass of bourbon and…”

The phone ringing put an end to his tirade. After a pointed look thrown in his direction, Martha went to answer, leaving Damon to try and drink as much bourbon as he like before she returned and they had to start all over. Except immediately Damon started to pour the drink, she called to him. “Master Damon, it's from the school. It seems young master Stefan…”

“How many times have I told you Martha, people don’t say master and young master anymore? They just say Sir or call them by their last names”

“Well, **_Master_** Damon” he resisted the urge to roll his eyes. “It concerns the young master and the school would like to talk to you”

Damon frowned and blurred to the phone, sharing a worried look with Martha before speaking. “Damon Salvatore…. What? ... No, he was okay. He didn’t say…. where is he? … Them? What do you mean them? … Broth… I’m sorry. He’s supposed to be in boarding school up north… Yes, I’ll be there soon…. No, you don’t have to call the ambulance. I’ve already texted the family doctor… yes, thanks for calling…bye”

“An ambulance? What’s going on Master Damon? Is the young master okay? And who else are they talking about?”

“I don’t know Martha. Apparently, Stefan fainted in school and is not waking up. I signed something about calling me first if anything happened so they haven’t called an ambulance yet. How did this happen, Martha? Vampires don’t just faint” Damon looked at her confusedly. “They said his brother arrived a few minutes ago”

“Brother?” Martha returned the confused look. “How…”

“I don’t know Martha” Damon practically growled at her. “I don’t know anything. They said he wasn’t looking too good but he was conscious, unlike Stefan. I had to tell them that he was in another school and wasn’t supposed to be there or they would call the police and I don’t even know what this mystery brother looks like or what his connection is to all this weirdness. I thought we left this behind when we left Mystic Falls” he breathed deeply, the worried look immediately turning to guilt. “He said this morning that he didn’t feel good. That something didn’t feel right. How could I have ignored him Martha?”

“It’s not your fault, young master” she soothed. “Go get him. I’ll get the grimoires. We’ll figure this out” 

* * *

 

Kol sighed for what seemed to be the thousandth time as his biology teacher droned on and on about something he couldn’t even remember. He had taken off his cardigan and tie and folded up his sleeves, which meant there was nothing more he could do to deface the expensive uniform he was wearing. At least, Elijah had put him in one of those spoiled rich kid’s schools, and that meant he could get away with a lot, like not paying attention in class and not dressed appropriately to the school standards. It also meant the strongest punishment he could receive for his shoddy attire was a glare from his teachers and maybe detention. He didn’t even have to compel his way out of trouble. The teachers in the school were paid almost four times what their counterparts in public schools were being paid, and that sum came with being able to keep your eyes and mouth shut about some situations. He sighed again as he whipped out his phone. It was times like these that he missed Rebekah a lot. He could only imagine the kind of trouble they could get away with in this kind of environment. His throat tightened as nostalgia overcame him. This happened every time he thought about his sister.

“Excuse me, Mr. Rivers, but I need to take Mr. Mikaelson out of class for a few minutes. His father wants to see him”

Kol’s head snapped up at the name. Even though the petite lady who had come in with the information was whispering, he could hear it clear as day. Perks of being a vampire with super hearing. He stood up so quickly his chair fell back, and without giving a backward glance at the gossiping teenagers behind him run out the door. For a split second, his eyes met with someone’s who should be long dead. His eyes widened and his heart jumped in fear at the sight before he blurred out of there at top speed, never minding there were human teachers right behind him.

It took him about ten seconds to cover a distance that took Elijah almost thirty minutes to cover by car as he drove him to school every day. He opened the front door with such force one of the hinges flew right off, putting Elijah into a defensive stance and bringing Klaus flying down the stairs in panic.

“Kol” Elijah relaxed his defensive pose a little bit. “What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be in school for a few more hours?”

“H-He’s back Elijah. He’s back” Kol ranted in a distraught voice. “I d-don’t know how but he’s back. He was at m-my school”

The older originals took note of their baby brother’s quivering voice and shaking shoulders. They moved closer to him. “Who’s back Kol?”

“Father” 

* * *

 

Damon was out of the screeching car before it came to a full halt. He marched into the school and tried to remember which direction was the infirmary when he was given a tour of the school while it was being considered for his little brother. Luckily, a teacher met him just a few steps in and led Damon to where he needed to go. He made a beeline for Stefan’s bed as soon as he went through the door, only to stop short at the other patient in the room. He wondered why he didn’t think about it when the school said his brother had arrived. It was so clear now as he looked at the identical eternally frozen teenage face opposite Stefan.

“Silas?” 

* * *

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is short but there'll be a longer one soon. Enjoy.

Elijah left Klaus to console their still very distraught and frightened little brother while he packed up their most important stuff. Besides, Klaus would gather his painting supplies first before anything else if he had asked him to pack up, not minding that they could get more of that wherever they were going next. And the only thing Kol would even bother taking was maybe his favorite pair of jeans or some other mundane thing, all of which Elijah deemed irrelevant. After throwing their passports and credit cards into the small suitcase, he blurred to the safe on the wall and gathered his mother’s grimoires and any available cash in the house. He herded his little brothers out of the mansion and into the fastest car they had outside, throwing Klaus a hoodie - albeit an expensive one - in the front seat and pulling a cap over Kol’s head in the back. After turning up his coat and running his hand through his hair to appear scruffier, he sat behind the wheel and drove off. All this happened less than five minutes after Kol had appeared shell-shocked in the living room, and the arrangements were executed with such practiced ease anyone looking at them would only see two men and a teenager driving through and never suspect foul play. 

* * *

The young physician looked up as Damon barged into the infirmary. She put down her clipboard and walked to the incredibly attractive man who just walked in. _Get a grip Chloe,_ she admonished herself. “You must be Mr. Salvatore” she extended her hand. “I'm Chloe”

Damon shook her hand. “Yes, but you can call me Damon. What happened?”

“Well, Stefan’s a bit peculiar. The teachers said he just fell out of his chair in a faint, no warning, nothing, just dropped like a bag of potatoes. They brought him in here and he hasn’t woken up since. No fever, no symptoms to diagnose, nothing. His temperature is a little low but that’s how it’s always been for him so no problem there. He just won’t wake up”

“Then what’s with the IV?”

“That’s just standard procedure” she shrugged it off. “The human body can never be too hydrated. Now, this one on the other hand - I gotta update this. We know his name now; cool names though, Stefan and Silas, original - So, as I was saying, Silas’ case is slightly different. At first glance, he looked dehydrated and he was also running quite a high temperature. It was no wonder he was so delirious. Shortly after we called you, he also passed out and has yet to wake up. I'm running tests on blood samples I took from both of them and I will know exactly what is wrong with them shortly” she ended, watching closely as Damon run his hand through Stefan’s dirty blonde hair. “That one’s your favorite huh?”

Damon turned to looked at her and she started sputtering. “Oh. I'm sorry… It’s not like that… I didn’t mean… I mean obviously they’re **_very_** identical twins. It will be impossible to choose between them. Not that you have to choose… I'm just… gonna go check on that sample now” she finally mumbled as she hightailed it out of the room.

Damon did not spare her another glance as he went back to analyzing the situation before him. _Why was Silas here_? No, no he had to start at the beginning. _Why was Silas still alive? He had been sucked into oblivion or wherever they went when the Other Side was destroyed. Then how was he here now? And why did he look so wrecked? And what did his being here have to do with Stefan’s sleeping beauty impression?_ Damon sighed deeply. Why couldn’t their lives be less complicated? The loud sounds of footsteps drawing close drew him out of their current existential crisis. He looked up to see the pretty physician had returned.

“Okay, I found something…” Damon doubted it. This was magic at play, and no matter how advanced human science became, it was still just that. Science. “… pretty weird”. Now **_that_** he totally believed. “It’s the same”

“What?”

“I mean the blood sample. It’s the same. DNA structure, blood type, even white blood cell count. It… It’s incredible. I’ve never seen anything quite like it before”

Damon knew what she was talking about. He had been afraid of that as soon as she said she had taken blood samples. But he scrunched up his face in an adorable look of confusion and in his most not-quite-scared-but-definitely-confused-rich-boy voice, spoke. “But they are identical twins. Isn’t it normal they have identical DNA?”

“Identical, yes. But not the same. No two people have the same DNA. Even for twins. Very similar, but never exactly the same. Theirs…” she pointed to the sleeping boys, who would have been mortified had they both been awake to see that they were branded as twins. “… is a one hundred percent match”

“O-kay. Is that like, a bad thing?” Damon asked, still doing his slightly dumb rich kid impression.

“Not necessarily. It’s just… unnatural”

“Uhm, okay. Is there like anything I have to sign? I want to take them home. The family doctor’s arriving soon” Damon said in an attempt to get the woman out of the room. It worked.

“Sure. I’ll just get the papers for you. Give me a minute” Chloe said as she breezed out of the room.

The confused look dropped off Damon’s face as soon as she turned around as he dug his phone out of his pocket. “Martha?... Yes, I know who the supposed brother is… Martha, I’ll tell you everything when I get home, okay? Right now, I need you to do something for me… I'm not demanding Martha, I'm asking really nicely… well the doctor took blood samples… yea, I'm pretty sure I had the same reaction internally… you need to destroy it… I don’t know, set the lab on fire or something. Just destroy the damn sample. She can't share her ‘unnatural’ findings with other nosy doctors… ok. Thanks Martha. We’ll be home soon” Damon ended the call just as the physician came back with some papers. He filled it out quickly, putting seventeen for both Stefan and Silas’ age. _How old was Silas when he almost got married anyway,_ he mused, before shrugging and signing his name at the bottom of the page. 

* * *

 

“Kol, are you hungry?”

The boy shrugged listlessly. Elijah sighed. His youngest sibling hadn’t spoken a word since they left Montana, some two hundred odd miles ago, just staring out through the window as they drove. He glanced over at his other brother. Klaus had fallen into a light doze some fifteen minutes prior after nearly chewing his fingers off in nervousness, and Elijah wished Kol had tried to get some sleep as well. At least then he wouldn’t have to look at the haunted eyes every time he peered at him in the rearview mirror. He had also pretended not to notice Niklaus’ hand shaking every time he bit his nails, the tremor in his shoulders or the rapid drumming of his feet. His brothers were terrified and he had no clue what to do. _Some big brother he was,_ he berated himself as he slid out of his car and walked into the minimart at the gas station.

Kol wouldn’t admit it but he suddenly felt exposed when Elijah left the car. He was tempted to wake Klaus just so he wouldn’t feel alone in the car. But by the time he worked up the nerve to do it, Elijah had returned. He dropped some potato chips and a bottle of water in the teen’s lap, leaving the rest of what he had picked up beside him in the back. “I need you to eat this Kol. It’s not blood but it’ll keep you distracted for a while. And I’ll get you some games or something when we drive through a big town, okay?” Elijah practically begged, feeling a silent triumph as the boy picked up the food.

“Where are we going ‘Lijah?” Kol asked, making his eldest brother smile earnestly as it was the first time, he had even acknowledged his presence since they took off

“California. We’re meeting up with the Salvatores. The Bennett witch will either be with them or very close by. She’s very protective of Damon. Maybe they’ll have some answers” 

* * *

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

* * *

_“Seriously Bonnie, they are so bad, when they jump their feet don’t leave the ground. I mean really, how hard is it to do a back tuck?”_

Bonnie chuckled as she zipped up her suitcase and started to get dressed. “Not everyone is born holding pom-poms Care. I'm sure they're doing their best. Besides, now that they’ve got you, they’ll be good in no time”

_“You got that right Bonnie. I'm gonna whip them into the best damn cheerleaders you ever saw. Well maybe not the best cos we are the best, but the closest thing to us I can manage”_ she said with conviction. _“But honestly, you would think some rich people boarding school will be filled with nothing but snotty and shallow but good cheerleaders. Oh god, did I just describe myself?”_

Bonnie laughed outright this time. “Maybe a long time ago. But you were never shallow Caroline. Don’t sell yourself short”

Caroline sighed. _“Fine. If you say so. You ready yet?”_

“Just some finishing touches” she said as she put on some lipstick. “Done”

_“You sure about this? You know, sometimes it may not look like it but Damon is capable of more than just murderous tendencies. Whatever you think is wrong, I'm sure he can handle it”_

“Caroline, did you just give Damon a compliment?” Bonnie asked teasingly

_“What? Of course not! I'm just saying Bonnie, maybe he doesn’t need you running to come play Princess Valiant”_

“This feeling I have Care, it’s not nothing. Something is coming, and I can't tell if its good or bad. With us in the middle though, it’ll likely turn out to be a shit storm. I need to go to them”

Caroline sighed again. “ _Our lives are so messed up. Well, safe travels Bonnie. I’ll keep the bags packed. And don’t worry about the boys, I’ll fill them in on the little I know. Make sure you ride first class okay? Damon is loaded and he doesn’t even use that money for anything productive. Help him spend it will you?”_

Bonnie laughed. “Sure Caroline. I’ll make sure to get the best service money can buy”

_“Good. You will keep me posted, right?”_

“Sure Caroline. Bye” 

* * *

 

Damon paced animatedly outside. _What was taking so long anyway_ , he mused. Martha had sent him out after proclaiming that his pacing was making her dizzy, and now outside his little brother’s bedroom, Damon’s brain could not stop coming up with rather ridiculous answers as to why his baby brother won't wake up. He stopped pacing when he heard the door open.

“I’m not sure what is wrong master Damon” Martha stated. “The other one-what was his name again- Silas, yes, he appears to be just exhausted. God knows where he walked from. His feet are all messed up. But Stefan, well Stefan also _appears_ to be sleeping, except he won't wake up. Maybe we should give it a couple of hours. See if they wake on their own since magic is obviously not working”

“A couple of hours?” Damon moaned. “Anything could happen in a couple of hours”

“True. But it won't be anything magical. And we know non-magical attacks are easier to thwart that witchy ones” Martha replied. “Relax, master Damon. They’ll be fine”

“I'm really only interested in Stefan, Martha. I could care less if Silas burst into flames spontaneously” Damon muttered

Martha hummed, before patting Damon on the shoulder and moving out of the room. Damon walked in and stopped. Martha had cleaned Silas up some and dressed him in Stefan’s clothes, and now, laying side by side in Stefan’s king size bed, it was difficult to tell who was who. Damon only knew because he had seen Stefan’s clothes that morning as he drove him to school. Ugh, this was Elena and Katherine all over again. He dragged one of Stefan’s chairs over to the bed and sat as he tried to come up with answers. 

* * *

 

Bonnie tried to relax as the taxi sped through the Hills, tried being the key word. She couldn’t shake the feeling she had described to Caroline. Something was coming their way, and try as she might, she couldn’t figure out what. This trip to California may be uncalled for, but it was safer to be wrong than be wrong about being safe. She sighed. Caroline was right. Their lives were so messed up. 

* * *

 

Damon smelled Bonnie long before the taxi turned on their street, let alone their front door, and was waiting for her when she got out of the car. He resisted the urge to fling himself into the nearest waterfall. If Bonnie was here, he couldn’t pretend anymore that any of this was even remotely normal. He groaned loud enough for the witch to hear.

“Something happened, didn’t it?” Bonnie asked

“Please tell me you are here because you miss my awesome self?” Damon practically begged

“I knew it. I should have come sooner. What happened, Damon?”

“Oh Bon Bon, we’ve got ourselves sleeping beauties” Damon moaned, before his legendary mercurial attitude kicked in as he turned a serious face towards Bonnie. “Say, Bon, there was no way any being could survive the other side’s collapse, right?”

Bonnie frowned. “Not that I know of. Unless they had a witch, who both knew and or was capable of casting a spell - like the one Silas gave me - or whatever Grams did to get us both out, I don’t see how that would be possible”. She turned a wary look to Damon. “Why?”. She paused. “And what did you mean by sleeping beauties?”

“Hold on to your hat witchy” Damon said, standing, knowing Bonnie would follow. “Oh, and I hope that bag holds more grimoires than clothes” 

* * *

 

Bonnie stared at the scene before her. And stared. And stared again. She blinked. And stared. And couldn’t stop staring.

“Bonnie?” Damon prompted

She shook herself out of her stupor. “This is impossible” she whispered

“Well apparently it’s quite possible or we wouldn’t be seeing what we are seeing” Damon snarked

“No, I saw him die… disappear… get sucked into oblivion. Yes. That’s it. I saw him get whisked away into nothing. I don’t… how could he be here now?” Bonnie ranted. “This is even bigger than I anticipated. Whatever is coming for us, Damon, with him in the middle of it, I'm sure now it’s nothing good”

Two hours later, and they were still trying to find out why Stefan was still sleeping and how Silas was alive. Bonnie hit the table in frustration. “I don’t understand. I’ve tried every spell I know. Some of my grams’, Emily’s, even Ayana’s; and still nothing”

“What about expression?”

Bonnie shook her head. “No. That is a last resort kind of thing”

“Well I'm pretty sure we are at the last resort stage; don’t you think?”

“Not yet”

“But Bon…”

“She said not yet master Damon. You should respect that she knows what she is doing and will use her expression when the time arises” Martha scolded

Bonnie chuckled. “I like your nanny Damon”

Damon scowled, ready with a rebuttal, but suddenly froze. Bonnie and Martha noticed immediately. “What is wrong, master Damon? You are as pale as a ghost”

“What do you hear?” Bonnie asked

“Its… the originals” 

* * *

 

Elijah pulled into Damon’s driveway the same time said owner appeared in the doorway. He breathed a sigh of relief when Bonnie appeared behind him. Good. He wouldn’t have to go search for the Bennett witch elsewhere. He heard Klaus and Kol get out as he turned off the ignition, joining them on the threshold as Martha graciously invited them in.

“Elijah” Damon said in a voice that made the eldest original believe he was not the only one with bad news. “What happened?”

“Our bloody father came back from the dead is what happened!” Klaus said as he stomped into the living room

Damon and Bonnie’s eyes widened simultaneously. The eldest Salvatore opened his mouth to say something, most likely to bemoan their very existence, when a loud crash from upstairs interrupted.

“Uh oh” was all he could manage instead

 

 

 


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

* * *

 

A split second later, Stefan blurred out the door and lifted himself up off the floor, hurling him into a table with some flowers on it. _Wait_ , Kol shook his head. There were _two_ Stefans? He turned to ask Damon what was going on, only to see him watching the scene with some amusement.

Stefan 1-who had been pushed into the table-stood up shakily with one broken table leg pointed in what was supposed to be a menacing way at Stefan 2. “Who are you? Where am I? Where are my parents?” He looked around in confusion, momentarily lowering his makeshift sword before raising it again when Stefan took a step forward. “Don’t come any closer. Why can't I remember anything?”

“O-kay. Stefan that’s enough” Damon announced

“Enough? No, I don’t think so” Stefan 2 - whom Kol now deduced was the real Stefan -  interrupted as he stalked quite angrily towards Stefan 1

Stefan 1 finally noticed the people downstairs as he turned towards the voice that had spoken. “Who are you people? And why does he look like me? Is this one of Qetsiyah’s little mind games? That I am my own enemy?”  He shook his head. “No. No, Qetsiyah will never do that. This, this is a hallucination. I’m sick. I have a fever or something. Mother will cure me, and then I'll wake up. This is all a dream. Yes, that’s it”.

“This is not a dream pal. Your little amnesia act doesn’t fool me” Stefan 2 said coldly. “And if you won't stay dead, I'll just keep killing you until you get the hint”

Other-Stefan looked up when he noticed how close the other him had gotten. “Stay dead? What do you mean stay dead? Did you kill me? Am I dead?” he asked animatedly

“Stefan, I said that’s enough” Damon iterated, with more force this time. Real Stefan stopped advancing, though Kol noticed it took all his willpower to do so. “Silas, calm down. We’re not going to hurt you” Damon tried to soothe

Kol’s eyes widened in realization. “ ** _That_** is Silas?”

Silas whirled around, his piece of wood now pointed at Damon. “How do you know my name?”

“ ** _The_** Silas?” Kol asked, bewildered

“We’re family” Damon answered, which was not exactly a lie

“How come I don’t know you? And why are you wearing such strange clothes?” the immortal witch asked, suspicious

“Just put down the stick, and we’ll talk” Damon said, approaching slowly with arms raised. He didn’t know if this version of Silas was human witch or immortal psycho

“Stop” Damon kept walking. “I said stop. Don’t come any closer, I'm warning you” Silas said. When Damon continued moving towards him however, he muttered a spell. “ ** _P_** ** _ř_** ** _esun_** _!_ ”

Damon stopped moving when the boy stretched out his arm, expecting either an aneurism or to be magically flung into the nearest object. Suffice to say he was surprised when he found himself still standing after what was clearly a spell had been leveled at him. “Huh. Would you look at that”?

Silas was now in a full-blown panic. His eyes widened. “What have you done to me? What did you do to my magic? **_Co jsi mi to ud_** ** _ě_** ** _lal, ty bláznivý_**? (What did you do, you imbecile?)”

“Bonnie?” Damon sung

“On it” the witch replied as she muttered a spell under her breath. Damon rushed to catch Silas as he went boneless in sleep, lifting him up and laying him on the couch, before pushing Stefan-quite forcefully-into one of the chairs opposite.

“You have one hell of an explanation to make mate” Kol stated plainly 

* * *

 

“So, Stefan just fainted?” Elijah asked. “And a supposedly dead immortal witch not only managed to resurrect but marched himself to Stefan’s school, only to also faint?”

“Yes Elijah. It’s not so different from when dear old Mikael came back from the dead to frighten poor little Kol to death, is it?” Damon said, exasperation evident in his voice at the number of times he had to repeat the surprisingly short story of their current dilemma

“Except Mikael did not collapse” Klaus added. “Would have made it easier to kill him then”

“You know, Katerina and Tatia and Elena may have had the same face, but they were so different from each other it wasn’t hard to tell who was who” Kol spoke, his face inches from Silas’ sleeping one as he observed the witch. “But this… They look the same. Unless the amnesia is an act and he goes back to being his psychotic self, I couldn’t tell him apart from Stefan”

Elijah sighed. As per usual, his siblings seemed to have gotten over the shock of their vampire hunting father being alive and gone back to their insufferable selves; Klaus to his snark and Kol to well, everything Kol. He was beginning to wish for the somber attitude from the car a couple of hours ago. “Kol, stop staring and let Miss Bennett do her job, will you?”

“Hmm?” Bonnie seemed to have zoned out of the conversation. “Oh, he’ll wake in a few minutes. I think I found a spell that might work” she announced. “Geez, this book is so old I'm afraid it will crumble if I open it”

“I know some restoration spells that might do the trick” Kol said

“Really? Guess I could use a few” Bonnie replied

“Yes, that’s great and all Bon Bon, but do you have any theories as to why people who are supposed to be not so alive are suddenly alive and kicking?” Damon asked

Bonnie shook her head. “Not really, no. I mean, when the other side went away, every soul trapped there should have disappeared. Sucked away into oblivion or whatever. It crumbled. Folded in on itself. I don’t see how anybody could have escaped its collapse. Even if they did, why did it take them so long to show themselves? No offense, but Mikael hates you…” she said to Elijah

“None taken” Klaus whispered

“… If he was alive all this while, he would have hunted you down by now. And all Silas wanted was to be human so he could die. We find him a couple hundred miles from where he died and with no magic? Silas died a witch. And according to Qetsiyah, a quite gifted one. He would know the right spells to knock us out in a heartbeat. Everything about this is all wrong. I know something big is coming, most likely something terrible. But what parts are Silas and Mikael going to play in that? I mean, are they allies or enemies? Do we need an extra witch and original vampire to survive what is coming? There are so many questions that need answering”

“Ugh, I need a drink” Damon said, standing and moving towards the bar

“Right behind you mate” Klaus piped, following

Martha rolled her eyes. “Can I get you anything to drink, Miss Bennett?”

“Please, call me Bonnie. A glass of water will do, thanks. I need to be focused”

“Of course, Bonnie” Martha said with a little curtsy, which amused Bonnie. She returned with a moment later, repeating the movement while handing Bonnie the water. The young witch’s curiosity prompted her to ask.

“Why do you keep doing that? I mean, it’s nice and all, but you don’t have to bow to me”

“You're like royalty to her Bon” Damon said around his glass. “Just let her indulge, will you?” His bourbon suddenly splashed all over him as the glass exploded. “Come on Martha. Shopping for glasses is tedious work. You can't just keep breaking them”

“Really? I wonder how you would know that, seeing as I'm the one who has to replace them almost every week when **_you_** break them all” she scolded

“What did he mean royalty?” Bonnie asked

“Oh, it’s nothing” Martha tried to brush off. “It’s just… your family… your magic… I’ve just been wanting to meet your family for a very long time. I almost cried when I learned that Emily Bennett had come and gone while I was on a long errand for Mister Salvatore. She had to have owed Miss Katherine something big for her to allow my boys to be manipulated so. But, that notwithstanding, she was one fine and powerful witch. You Bennetts, your kind of magic, is very rare. And…”

“What do you mean our kind of magic?”

“Have you wondered why only women in your family are witches?” Martha asked

“I always thought it was because women were better witches than men” Bonnie said teasingly

“That is so not true” Kol countered, as she knew he would

Elijah and Martha both laughed. “Well, there is that too of course. But…”

“Why is this one empty?” Elijah asked, before immediately apologizing for interrupting Martha, though he was also interrupted by Silas’ waking moan. He looked around at the strangers in the room.

“It was not a dream, was it?” he asked, a pinch of fear in his voice. It changed a moment later, however when he noticed the leather-bound book in Elijah’s hand. “How did you get that?” he asked, getting to his feet

All eyes were suddenly drawn to the book Elijah was still holding. Even Damon and Klaus came over. “Do you know what it is?” Kol asked, mentally slapping himself at the question when Silas gave him a look that clearly stated that he thought the original was stupid. He was a witch. Of course, he knew what a grimoire was. “I’ll take that as a yes”

“Look, I don’t know who any of you are, but you need to let me go. My parents will kill you if you don’t, and it won't be a quick death” Silas threatened

“Good to know murder has been in the family for millennia. It runs in our blood” Damon snarked. “Look here, Harry Potter, your parents aren’t coming. They are dead. Have been dead for two thousand years. As a matter of fact, you were dead too, until this morning that is. We just want to know how come you're still here. But first things first. What do you know about this empty book?”

Bonnie face palmed. Typical Damon to drop such news on Silas like that. She looked at the emotions playing across his face, letting her believe more and more that he was not faking the amnesia. He really couldn’t remember anything.

“W-What? They're dead? Two thousand years? What are you talking about? They were… They were having lunch… in the garden… It was… I was… How…” the boy was thoroughly confused

Martha stepped in before the boy started hyperventilating. “It’s okay son. Calm down. I'm a witch. And so is she” she pointed to Bonnie. “You can trust us” she added, letting him feel her magic, before throwing a glare in Damon’s direction. She kept repeating the first two sentences until she felt the boy relax

“You're witches. What are they then?”

“Vampires, mate” Kol answered

“What’s that?”

“There’ll be time for explanations later” Elijah begun

“You’ll tell me why he looks like me?” Silas asked, pointing to Stefan

“Among other things” Elijah accepted. “First, you need to tell us about this grimoire”

“Okay. It belongs to my best friend, Qetsiyah. She’s very powerful. Stronger than me… than I used to be” he added, remembering his inability to do magic. “Qetsiyah, she sometimes made up new spells. She was very gifted that way. This book contains her most potent spells”

“In case blindness came with your amnesia, the grimoire is empty” Stefan spoke for the first time since their little skirmish

Silas scoffed. “Of course, it isn’t. Qetsiyah’s mother helped her make it, and she was asked to keep it in the family. So Qetsiyah being Qetsiyah, did it in the most spectacular way. She wrote the spells in her blood, binding each one to the pages so it could never be torn out or copied. The quill she made herself from a combination of a tree she magically grew and the feather of some obscure bird; I don’t quite remember. And finally, she cast a longevity spell with the elements; elemental magic if you will, it’s quite rare. The grimoire could never be destroyed, but she made sure only she and her family would ever be able to read its contents. She put in so many factors and conditions, no one outside her family would be able to read what is in that book. So, unless you have Qetsiyah stashed here somewhere, you can forget ever seeing the contents of that book”

Everyone stared at him with a what-the-hell look. “That book better be an instruction manual on how to pluck the sun from the sky” Kol deadpanned

Silas shrugged. “You’ll never know”

“Say, you wouldn’t happen to know the spell Qetsiyah used to actually write in the book, do you? Cos, I know blood ain’t invisible” Damon asked

Silas shook his head. “She didn’t need to spell her blood. The invisibility was made possible by the quill she used. I sat with her a few times when she wrote. She seemed to know what she was doing, but all I saw, even while I could see her writing, was a blank page. I repeat, unless you have her sta…”

“I’m her family” Bonnie suddenly announced

“What?”

“Qetsiyah and I are related” Bonnie repeated slowly. “You said only someone from her family line could read the book. That means I can, right?”

“Yes, but…” Silas narrowed his eyes suspiciously at Bonnie. “I don’t know you. I know all of Qetsiyah’s family, but I don’t…”

“Two thousand years’ mate. Keep up” Klaus said. “She’s a distant relative”

“Well, if you really are Qetsiyah’s family, the book should have sensed your magic and opened for you”

Stefan scoffed. “Another dead end. Thanks for nothing psycho”

“Not necessarily, no” Silas spoke, ignoring his lookalike’s jab. “There is another way but it’s dangerous. Are you absolutely certain that you are a descendant of Qetsiyah?”

“I'm sure” Bonnie answered

“Like your friend here keeps repeating, apparently, it’s been two thousand years. That is a very long family tree to keep track of. And if you are not a descendant, you will die immediately”

“She said she was sure mate. Just tell her what to do” Kol interjected

“Alright” Silas conceded. “I need some parchment and a quill”. At the confused look Bonnie gave him, he rectified. “I need something to write with”.

Elijah dropped an unfinished homework book before him, along with a pen. Suffice to say, Stefan was not a happy camper but a glare from his older brother limited his complaints to a petulant pout. Silas spent a few seconds admiring the writing materials of the twenty first century, then got to drawing what looked like a sigil or crest of some sort. When he was done, he looked to Damon, being unconsciously drawn to him in particular without knowing why. “This is the insignia of Qetsiyah’s family. I don’t know why the book can't sense your magic but Qetsiyah wrote this in her blood. Therefore, her blood should be able to unlock it. Draw this insignia on the grimoire in your blood. No incantations necessary. It should open”

Bonnie nodded and took a deep breath. She made an incision in her palm and made a fist, watching as blood trickled down into one of Damon's wine glasses. Why he even had those she didn’t know because she had never seen Damon drink wine. She then dipped two fingers in the blood and started to trace what Silas had drawn on the grimoire’s first page. The symbol itself was easy to draw, and it filled Bonnie with a slight amount of pride that their family had been deemed important enough at some point to warrant a recognizing mark. She gave a shuddery breath when the sigil was done and words started showing themselves. The spells were written some two thousand odd years ago, and Bonnie knew on some level that it should be more difficult for her to read let alone understand what they meant. But she just knew what each spell she read did. And she knew Qetsiyah had to be really powerful to create an immortality elixir and its cure and single handedly create the other side but damn, that witch was something else. The power behind the words coursed through her like electricity, and she felt invincible. Even her Expression had not made her feel this way before. She felt all three of her magic swirling within her, just dying to be let loose.

Damon’s face creased in slight worry. “Bonnie? You okay?” he asked warily

Silas watched in fascination. “Incredible! She’s gifted. Like Qetsiyah and me. Like I used to be…” he corrected. “That was why the grimoire wouldn’t open before. You don’t have only one source of magic. You can tap into several. The book couldn’t decide”

“What is going on right now?” Martha asked

“I don’t know” Silas answered. “It looks like a binding ceremony of some sort. The grimoire is familiarizing itself with her magic. Cataloguing it in a way”

“How long is that going to take?” someone asked. Damon wasn’t sure who.

“Oh, you’ll know when it’s done. Trust me” Silas replied, ecstatic. “There will be a massive release of power unlike anything you’ve ever seen”

“How massive?” Damon asked, the wary tone back. Bonnie was no garden witch. If she was releasing magic unintentionally…

“She has Qetsiyah’s blood running through her veins, so I will say pretty massive” Silas replied, before seeming to pick up on Damon’s uneasiness. “What types of magic is she familiar with?”

“Spirit, traditional and Expression”

“Did you say Expression?” he turned to Damon, horror slowly dawning. “How good is her control? If she lets go, and it is Expression and she cannot control it…” he left the sentence hanging but everyone understood clearly what he meant.

“We need to contain it” Kol announced solemnly

“I don’t think we have enough time” Silas said as he took a wary step back. Stefan unconsciously followed suit.

The front door suddenly opened with a deafening sound as a voice spoke, causing Damon to groan loudly. “He’s right. There's no time”

 


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

* * *

****

The originals turned to address the new voice, who Damon seemed to know if his very audible groan was anything to go by.

“Who the hell are you?” Kol asked without preamble

“Qetsiyah!” Silas exclaimed. “Oh, thank God” he breathed while he flew into the witch’s arms, crushing her in a desperate hug. “They said you died, and that’s it’s been two thousand years, and she was your relative though I've never met her, and… oh Qetsiyah, it is so good to see you. I don’t know what’s happening, ‘Tsiyah, I'm so confused” he babbled

“Oooh, so **that’s** Qetsiyah. She's pretty” Kol said, as the black woman at the door seemed slightly taken aback by the death grip Silas had on her. He turned to see Elijah giving him a look. He shrugged. “What? She is”

“I should have known you would have a hand in this” Damon intoned. “I suppose you're responsible for Mikael’s miraculous stint back in the land of the living too, aren’t you? What is the meaning of this, Qetsiyah? What, no daytime tv on the other side? Oh wait, you destroyed that. How are you even here?”

The ancient witch finally managed to pry Silas off herself. “We don’t have time for this Damon. We need to deal with that first” she said, pointing to Bonnie, who was still locked in the euphoria of the power swirling within her. “I need your help to contain it” she said to Silas. “There's not enough time left to take her anywhere and if she lets go here, there’ll be no neighborhood left”

“I don’t have magic anymore, ‘Tsiyah” Silas said softly

“Yes, **_‘Tsiyah_** _”_ Damon taunted. “Or have you forgotten that little detail already?”

Silas whirled around to face her. “You **knew**? What… how…”

“You **do** have magic. You just can't access it as easily as before” Qetsiyah answered, completely ignoring Damon’s smug look. She flicked a wrist and Stefan’s neck snapped loudly as he fell down in temporary death. “Try now” she nodded to Silas, disregarding the minor commotion behind her at Stefan’s lifeless form

“Qetsiyah, you… why would you do that?” Silas asked, horrified at how she had killed Stefan without batting an eye.

“ **SILAS!** Focus” she yelled at him, physically dragging the distraught boy behind her when he appeared to still be in shock over her actions.

She positioned Silas and herself on opposite sides of Bonnie as she recited a spell that Silas did not know. She must have written it herself, Silas mused, as he followed her lead, reciting the spell word for word. Their voices rose in volume until about forty seconds later, the very foundations of the house shook as Bonnie let go of all that magic within her, manifesting in the form of a whirlwind that Silas and Qetsiyah barely contained. Silas seemed to realize that he had his magic back, as he finally put his heart and mind to the spell they were performing. It took about a minute for the violent tremors to subside, and when it finally did, Bonnie fell down in a dead faint. 

* * *

****

It had been almost half an hour since Bonnie fainted, and despite Damon’s threats and all-round psychotic shenanigans, Qetsiyah refused to say anything until Bonnie woke; something about there not being much time and not wanting to repeat herself. So, they all waited for Bonnie to wake; Stefan having come back to life about ten minutes prior. Kol opened his mouth.

“You ask how much longer one more time, I'm going to pull your heart out of your body through your mouth, wait for it to grow back, and then do it all over again” Qetsiyah threatened darkly

Kol was shocked into silence while Klaus sniggered and Elijah hid a smile. Before he could recover and rebuttal, however, Bonnie groaned. “That is gross” she muttered, raising herself into a sitting position

“How are you feeling, Miss Bennett?” Elijah asked

“Pretty good, actually. That was…exhilarating”

“Well, that’s good and all but now Bonnie is awake. You mind telling us what the hell is going on?” Damon asked without preamble. “Maybe start with how you and one-true-love over there are here now”

“I created the other side Damon. You don’t think I could protect myself and anyone I wanted from its collapse?” Qetsiyah asked

“Oh, I know you could. But why him, and their psychotic father? What could you possibly keep them alive-ish for?”

“’Tsiyah, what is going on? What happened to me?” Silas pleaded. “I remember your parents coming over to our house for lunch. They were in the garden, and we were sent away to practice while the adults talked. Next thing I know, I'm waking up in a strange room with all these strange people telling me it’s been two thousand years. And then here you are, and you appear older, and… I'm just confused ’Tsiyah”

Qetsiyah looked him straight in the eye, and without a hint of remorse, spoke. “You hurt me a lot Silas. We were supposed to get married…”

“Married?” Silas all but screeched

“… don’t interrupt me. Yes, married. I was so in love with you and I thought you shared the same feelings, so I made an immortality elixir that we would drink at our wedding so we could be together forever. But you tricked me, and left me at the altar while you drank it with someone else. I found out and I punished you both for it. I was still in love with you, and willing to forgive, so first I made a cure and offered it to you. But you rejected it. I created a place for supernatural souls after death and anchored it to her. She was human, and you were a witch, so if you both died, only you would cross over to the other side. Then I calcified you and buried you with the cure, hoping that you would take the cure and kill yourself to be with her, only to realize you're stuck on the other side with me for all eternity”

Silas stared wide eyed at her as she recounted the tale of their lost love. He seemed lost for words at the brutality of it as Kol whistled. “Lady, you are one deranged human being”

“He deserved it” Stefan muttered darkly

“You attempted to bring down the veil separating this world and the other side and in so doing set off a chain of events that resulted in its eventual collapse” Qetsiyah continued. “Those who hadn’t found peace were sucked away into oblivion”

“Then how am I here now?” Silas asked, having found his tongue. “And how did you do all this… these things Qetsiyah? The magnitude of those spells alone needs an entire coven to be cast”

“Emotion is a powerful driving force. When I made the immortality elixir, I was so in love anything was possible. But when you betrayed me, I had hatred in spades”

Silas looked taken aback. He couldn’t believe his childhood best friend would do those things. “You hated me that much?”

“Yes” Qetsiyah said without a beat, causing Silas to deflate. “But that’s in the past. There are more important things to worry about now” she looked up at them. “All of you. Something’s coming your way; a lot of somethings actually. I can't give you any more than that, that is all I know. But it is so bad, nature is willing to bend its own rules and bring you back from the dead to help counter it”

“Nature? You're telling me that the earth brought Silas, and their freaky father back to do … what exactly? What, the trees are running out of fertilizer or something?” Damon sneered, only to have the ghastly potted plant Martha liked to keep in the window sill elongate its branches to slap him upside the head. “Ow”

It was amusing to see a potted plant putting Damon Salvatore in his place, if the laughter in the room was anything to go by. But they had more serious issues at hand.

“And these great evils can't be defeated without Mikael? What do they need him for that we cannot do ourselves?” Klaus asked with apprehension

“I know your father was not a good person. But you'll find that a few years on the other side alone and however long in oblivion does wonders to the personality of a man. You'd be surprised at what you find” Qetsiyah said, standing up. “Besides, what’s done is done. You can't change it, and I think you can do with the reinforcements”

“Where do you think you're going?” Stefan asked sharply

“Leaving” Qetsiyah answered, unconcerned with the glare levelled at her. “You'll figure out what you have to do. Annoying as it is, you always do”

“You can't leave” Damon complained. “You didn’t answer any questions, and you're leaving me even more confused than before”

“You didn’t ask any questions, Damon. And even if you did, I probably wouldn’t answer. You are about to have serious problems, I have brought you help. What is confusing about that?” Qetsiyah asked snidely

“We don’t need your help” Stefan retorted. “So, you can take one true love over there and go fall of the face of the earth or something”

“We don’t want the help either” Kol added. “If your idea of help is bringing Mikael back from the dead, or whatever your crazy story about ‘nature’ doing it, we don’t want it”

Suddenly, everyone was talking over each other very loudly. The Mikaelson siblings seemed to find their voice, and with the Salvatores never having lost theirs, it was a complete circus in the living room. Only Silas and Martha were not involved, the former because this was still all very strange to him and the latter because, well, the bored expression on her face and being practically Damon Salvatore’s nanny meant this was not new to her at all. Bonnie couldn’t keep up with all the noise, however, and she lashed out with her magic. The fireball that erupted in the middle of the room effectively shut everyone up right away, as - with the exception of Qetsiyah - they all turned to Bonnie.

“I can't hear myself think” was the only thing she offered by way of explanation

Qetsiyah took advantage of the silence to drive home her message. “You can yip all you want, but your father’s back, and so is Silas. You would need both of them along the way, but until then is it so bad to try and be a family again?” she directed at the originals.

“We tried that with our mother, and look how well that turned out” Kol snarked

“There is nothing you can do about it anyhow, and you had better just accept it. There is a reason for everything, but till then, congratulations Damon, it’s a boy. You’d make a great big brother”

* * *

_“That’s it?” Caroline asked_

_Bonnie nodded. “Yes. And she just dissolved into a pile of leaves. Right there in the living room”_

_“So, she brings Silas and Mikael back from the dead, doesn’t make any sense whatsoever, and essentially makes Silas a Salvatore?”_

_“Pretty much”_

_“How is Damon handling all of this?”_

_“Well, he’s on his fiftieth bottle of bourbon now. Ask me again tomorrow”_

Caroline sighed _. “What is our lives Bonnie. And Stefan?”_

_“He’s already killed Silas twice. Damon had to physically step in to prevent a third murder. He's been in his room since. Suffice to say, he's gonna need the longest times to adjust”_

_“Well, of course. The guy locked him in a safe and left him to drown continuously for three months. That is not something you just get over”_ Caroline all but screeched _. “So, Silas came back from the dead decidedly not-human, his immortality intact. How about you Bonnie? How do you feel about all this drama? He did kill your father”_

There was silence on the other end of the line for so long, Caroline wondered if Bonnie was still on. But then she breathed deeply.

 _“I'm going to have to get over it”_ she said solemnly _. “I found a note in Qetsiyah’s grimoire, the special one, and it was addressed to me. Eternity is a long time to hold a grudge”_

It took a moment for the meaning behind that to sink in to Caroline. And when it finally did, she shrieked.

_“She made you immortal?”_

_“Looks like we’re going to be seeing a lot of each other for a very long time, Care”_ she paused _. “I think Elijah finally got Klaus and Kol to calm down”_

 _“I almost forgot about them”_ Caroline almost facepalmed _. “How are they holding up?”_

 _“Kol and Klaus wanted to run, but Elijah vetoed the idea. They’re staying here for the night but they’ll leave tomorrow, back to Montana and the life they left behind. I think they want to give Mikael a shot, Elijah anyway, not that they have much choice. But he's made me promise to send him back to the ‘darkest reaches of hell if they feel remotely unsafe’; his words”_ Bonnie recited _. “So, there's that”_

Caroline sniffed _. “Our lives are so messed up”_

_“Tell me about it”_

* * *

__

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is supposed to be the end, but I'm working on an epilogue of sorts, and would have it up in a few days. I'm also working on a sequel.


	6. Epilogue

**_Epilogue_ **

* * *

 

Martha huffed as she climbed the stairs. _How does he manage to oversleep on important days like this, and yet, when she really needs him to sleep through the whole week so she can have peace of mind, he's awake before dawn?_ She let herself into the bedroom without even knocking, walking briskly to the window and pulling the drapes apart with a little too much glee. She could just do it from the doorway or anywhere in the house really with magic, but the action soothed her.

Damon groaned loudly when the sun fell directly in his face. _Oh, how he hated mornings like this!_ “Martha” he whined.

“Don’t Martha me, Master Damon. You have about twenty minutes to get ready. It’s the first day of school”

Damon was instantly awake at that. First day of school indeed. It had been approximately 8 months since Qetsiyah had dumped Silas in his lap with all her crazy mumbo jumbo, and it was officially his first day of school. Well, _both their first day of school_ , he corrected when he saw the identical faces sitting at the dining table. They looked smart in their matching preppy uniforms. Silas laughed at something Stefan had said, before promptly throwing cereal at him, which Stefan dodged effortlessly.

“Stop playing with your food” Damon warned, as he picked up the buttered toast Martha had left for him. What he really wanted for breakfast was bourbon, but Martha would blow a gasket if she caught him anywhere near the bottles. He sneaked a peek at the boys, who had quieted down a bit but were still sniggering slightly at whatever inside joke they were enjoying and his mind went back to the first few months.

The first two months especially had been hard. Damon had spent almost every waking hour pulling Stefan off Silas. That was how much they didn’t get along. Stefan still believed Silas was faking the amnesia, and Silas didn’t know why Stefan hated him so much either. Damon had explained to him why they looked exactly the same, among other things but not that. Until about six weeks into his stay when the fighting got so bad, Silas forgot he couldn’t do magic – at least not in the conventional way – anymore, and forced a spell out of his body. The effect was staggering. Both boys flew in opposite direction, hitting the walls hard before stilling in unconsciousness. Damon didn’t know what it meant at the time, but he soon found out.

After that, Stefan had become somewhat wary of Silas. He still hated him, and he let him know every single day. At this point, Damon had seriously considered donating them both to charity just to keep his sanity. And then the turning point came one fateful afternoon, when Silas had asked Stefan why he hated him with so much passion. Damon almost intervened when Stefan stalked menacingly toward Silas, but Martha held him back, and whispered for him to just listen. Stefan started telling Silas all the atrocities he had seemingly forgotten with anger at first, but by the time he finished with his own drowning, he was just broken. Silas listened to his rant, eyes widening with each brutality Stefan listed. He couldn’t believe he had done those horrible things, and by the time Stefan got to the end, he couldn’t listen to any more. He run out of the house distraught, and Martha once again held Damon back from going after him. He returned hours later, soaking wet, and made straight for Stefan’s room. And though Stefan didn’t even acknowledge his presence, he spent almost an hour apologizing in a mixture of English, ancient Greek, Romani and languages Damon didn’t even know the name of. Stefan hadn’t said anything, but he also hadn’t threatened to kill him either, and Damon counted that as a win.

And then came the big one. The resurrection of Bonnie’s father. But Damon didn’t even want to go into that. He was happy for Bonnie, he really was, but the fallout from that… he shuddered. Nope, not remembering.

He brought his mind back to the present. Caroline had done a good job, he thought, as he watched Silas and Stefan play with their iPad while they waited for him to finish eating. It had been her job to introduce Silas to the twenty first century and make him ready for high school in four months. As soon as Damon had mentioned challenge, she jumped at the opportunity. Everyone pitched in, but it had been mostly Caroline, and looking at him now, Damon believed she had done a marvelous job. It was impossible to tell that eight months ago, the boy before him had been a two-thousand-year-old ghost. Well, they would see how well Caroline did after today, he thought, as he placed his plate in the sink.

“Alright, go say goodbye to Martha before she skins me alive” Damon said as the woman in question stepped into the dining room. Stefan and Silas sniggered, each kissing her cheek before finally leaving the house.

Damon pulled up to the school a little over twenty minutes later. He turned to face the boys. Gone was the carefree expression on Silas’ face as reality came crashing back. They were now at the school and he was afraid. “Hey, relax. You would do just fine. I'm going to escort you inside and sign you in, and you'll have all the others for company”

After the divine visitation eight months ago, they had all decided to stay close. It had resulted in moving to a whole new neighborhood but everyone thought it was worth it. The kids had had to restart school, and they had all been going for a semester while Silas and Stefan, and Kol, adjusted to their new family settings.

“Everything would be okay. Besides, what did I say to do when someone annoys you?”

“Stab them with a pencil if its in the classroom. If I'm close to a window, throw them out of it. If I can't do any of those things, I should just go with my imagination” Silas recited deftly as Stefan rolled his eyes.

“I don’t understand how your siblings are so well adjusted when they have you to look up to” Mikael muttered as he walked up to them, Kol in tow with a look on his face that said he would rather be anywhere than here.

“Natural charm, I guess” Damon smirked. “Evil Knievel, what’s with the face?” he asked Kol, only to receive a glare so dark he raised his hands in surrender.

Mikael sighed. “Kol, please make it at least a week before I get any calls. Can you manage that?”

Kol smiled sweetly. “I'll try my best, father” he replied as he followed Damon inside

Ten minutes later and Lincoln Preparatory had three new students. Twin brothers Stefan Antonio Salvatore and Silas Adonis Salvatore – _who names their child Adonis, Damon had mused when Silas first told him. Ugh, ancient Greece –_ and Kol Mikaelson.

“The whole gang back together” Damon said as they made to leave. “I feel sorry for this school”

* * *

 


End file.
